According to Crantz, the flesh supplies the natives with their most palatable and substantial food. Their fat furnishes them with oil for lamp-light, chamber and kitchen fire; and, whoever sees their habitations, presently finds that, if they even had a superfluity of wood, it would be of no use: they can use nothing but train-oil in them. They also mollify their dry food, mostly fish, in the oil; and, finally, they barter it for all kinds of necessaries with the factor. They can sew better with the fibres of the seal's sinews than with thread or silk. Of the skins of the entrails they make their windows, curtains for their tents, and shirts; part of the bladders they use for their harpoons; and they make train-bottles of the stomach. Neither is the blood wasted, but boiled, with other ingredients, and eaten as soup. Of the skin of the seal they stand in the greatest need, because they must cover over with seal-skins both their large and small boats, in which they travel and seek their provision. "They must also," Crantz adds, "cut their thongs or straps out of them, and cover their tents with them, without which they could not subsist in summer. Therefore, no man can pass for a right Greenlander who cannot catch seals. This is the ultimate end they aspire to in all their device and labour, from their childhood up."

The Monk Seal,* found on the Mediterranean coast of Africa, resembles the common seal in many

respects, but there are remarkable differences between them, particularly in their osteological structure which, however, can only be described too technically for a popular history.

The Marbled Seal,† a native of the coast of France, was, at first, thought to be a variety of the common seal; but Professor Nilsson regards it as a distinct species. In the Jardin des Plantes there was, for some time, a specimen of this seal. Two little dogs, in the same inclosure, amused themselves by mounting on its back, barking, and even biting it-all of which the seal took in good part. Sometimes it would pat them with its paw; but this seemed intended more to encourage than to repress their gambols. In cold weather, they warmed one another by huddling together. If the dogs snatched a fish from the seal's mouth, it bore the loss patiently; but it generally had a fight with another seal, the sharer of its mess, until the weaker one sounded a retreat.

One genus derives its name from its head being surmounted with a peculiar organ, the nature of which is not well known.

Phoca Monachus.

VOL. II.

+ Calocephalus discolor. C. annellatta: Nilsson.

Stemmatopus: F. Cuvier.

91

THE CRESTED SEAL.*

THIS animal is a native of Greenland and various parts of the coast of North America. It has thirty teeth; the molars with simple roots, short, wide, and striated only on the crown. "A thick, folded skin," says Clapmuitz, "is on its forehead, which it can draw down over its eyes, like a cap, to defend them against the storms, waves, stones, and sand." This "crest," as it is called, is peculiar to the adult male. The eyes—which are capable of being drawn deeply into the socket during repose- are eminently fitted to discern distant objects. The fur is soft, long, and woolly beneath it becomes darker with age.

THE URSINE SEAL.+

THE head of this creature has a narrow, retracted muzzle; small external ears; and thirty-six teeth. It inhabits the islands on the north-west of America, Kamschatka, the Kurile, and other islands, and is migratory in its habits.

Steller, who is our chief authority in reference to it, made a garment of its fur, which he highly prized, when he was in Behring's Island, engaged with Behring, its discoverer.

The sea-bears, as they are often called, grow very fat, and are then exceedingly indolent, sometimes scarcely moving from the same spot for two or three months. This is from June to September, the breeding-time-one being usually produced at a birth, and sometimes, but rarely, two. The female is exceedingly attached to her young, and defends it with great obstinacy. The cubs, when little more than a day old, become playful, and wrestle with one another.

When two have fought together for some time, and get out of breath, they lay themselves down, side by side, lick each other, and rest themselves; after which, they rise again to continue the contest. As long as they are nearly a match for each other in strength, they strike only with their fore feet; but as soon as one of them gains the advantage, he seizes the other with his teeth, and throws him on the ground. When others, who have been spectators of the fight, see this, they come to the aid of the vanquished combatant.

In the month of September, these animals quit their breeding stations, and return to the Asiatic and American shores, but are never to be found except between the latitudes 50° and 60°. They swim very swiftly, frequently at the rate of eight miles an hour.

Another genus in this Family appears in the Trichecus, the generic name for the Walrus, or Morse. Its characters are as follow:-Head well proportioned, round, obtuse; eyes small and brilliant; upper lip remarkably thick, covered with pellucid whiskers or bristles, as large as a straw. Two very large canines, in the upper jaw only, directed downwards. Nostrils large, rounded, placed on the upper part of the snout. No external ears.

THE WALRUS, OR MORSE.§

In early times the Walrus was called a Horse-whale, and seems to have been known in England as early as the year 890, during the reign of King Alfred; for Hakluyt states, that during that year a voyage was made beyond the North Cape by Octher, the Norwegian, "for the mere commoditie of fishing of horse-whales, which have in their teeth bones of great price and excellence; whereof he brought some on his returne to that king." The same writer says that the skins of horse-whales and seals were converted into cables of sixty ells in length, by the natives of northern Europe.

The walrus is an obstinate animal, and does not fly on the approach of man ; on the contrary, forming themselves into a body, they go and meet him, and resist any attempt on his part to proceed. When a company of travellers meet these animals on the shore, they are forced to fight their way through them; and, if the walruses are pelted with stones, they gnaw them with their teeth, but afterwards tack the men with redoubled fury, rending the air with the most tremendous growling. These animals

† Ursus marinus: Steller.
Phocida.

* Stemmatopus cristatus.

L'Ours marin: Buffon. Arctocephalus ursinus. Phoca ursina.
§ Trichecus Rosmarus.

seem to be fully aware of the effect of united resistance and attack, and also of the utility of keeping in masses and ranks; for, should any one of them attempt to retreat, those in his rear fall upon, and compel him to keep in the ranks, or kill him. Sometimes it happens, that when one walrus attempts to stop another, who is retreating, they all begin to suspect each other of being inclined to fly; and, in that case, the contest often becomes universal. When two are fighting with one, the others come to the aid of the weaker side. While they are thus fighting on the land, others that are in the water raise their heads, and look on for a time, till they also become enraged, swim to shore, and join in the combat.

In the memorable voyage of Captain Cook, he describes his meeting with a herd of walruses off the north coast of America. "They lie," he says, "in herds of many hundreds upon the ice, huddling over one another like swine; and roar or bray so very loud, that in the night, or in foggy weather, they gave us notice of the vicinity of the ice before we could see it. We never found the whole herd asleep, some being always upon the watch. These, on the approach of the boat, would awake those next to them; and the alarm being thus gradually communicated, the whole herd would be awake

presently. But they were seldom in a hurry to get away, till after they had been once fired at. They then would tumble over one another into the sea, in the utmost confusion; and if we did not, at the first discharge, kill those we fired at, we generally lost them, though mortally wounded. They did not appear to us to be that dangerous animal which some authors have described, not even when attacked. They are more so in appearance than reality. Vast numbers of them would follow, and come close up to the boats; but the flash of the musket in the pan, or even the bare pointing of one at them, would send them down in an instant. The female will defend her young to the very last, and at the expense of her own life, whether in the water or upon the ice. young one quit the dam, though she be dead; so that, if one is killed, the other is The dam, when in the water, holds the young one between her fore arms."

Nor will the certain prey.

The walrus inhabits the seas about North America, Davis's Straits, Hudson's Bay, and Greenland, and also the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

Early in the spring these animals, from almost every quarter, congregate in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and spread themselves over the group called the Magdalene Islands. These seem highly calculated to supply their wants, as they abound in a great variety of large shelled animals; and, from the shores being of a gentle slope, with few precipitous rocks, they are able easily to reach them.

Here they remain occasionally, for many days, without food, when the weather is fine; but on the slightest appearance of rain they precipitate themselves into the sea. Before the Americans made a traffic of the oil of the walrus, they have been known to assemble in these islands to the number of eight or ten thousand; but they have since greatly decreased.

The natives of the Magdalene Islands do not attack the walruses on their first arrival, but allow them to repose quietly for some time, and frequently show themselves, to accustom them not to be afraid of men. At a fixed time they assemble in boats, and land in the dark, near the place where many of these animals are reposing, and separate those that are farthest inland from those that are next the water. This the fishermen call making a cut, and a dangerous enterprise it is. They kill as many walruses as possible of those next the water, and then attack the others. From the darkness of the night and the effect of torchlight the animals get bewildered, and, straying further from the water, become an easy prey. Sometimes, in a single attack of this kind, from a thousand to fifteen hundred have fallen victims in one night.

The first operation is to skin the animal, and cut it into slices of two or three inches in breadth. These are imported by America for carriage traces, and the short pieces are sent to England for making into glue. The coat of fat which lies under the hide is afterwards removed, to be melted into oil, of which each walrus produces nearly two barrels. The tusks, which weigh from ten to twelve pounds each, are then sawn off, and sell at considerable prices, as they are ivory of a very hard texture, and are much used for artificial teeth. The weight of a walrus is from fifteen hundred to two thousand pounds.

AQUATIC MAMMALS.*

We have now arrived at the last Order of Mammals: those, namely, which are termed Cetacea, among which we find the Whale, the Porpoise, and the Dolphin.

They have no posterior extremities, and their anterior are so shortened, flattened, and enveloped in skin, as to have the form of fins. In fact, the Cetacea have altogether the external form of fishes, with this exception, that in the latter the tail-fin is vertical, while in the former it is horizontal. Hence we hear of the Whale fishery; and of ships arriving with few or many fish on board.

The Cetacea may, in the first instance, be broadly divided into two divisions-the Plant-Eaters (Herbivora), and the Flesh-Eaters (Carnivora).

The former which include the Manateet and the Dugong‡, are large animals of from fifteen to twenty feet in length, inhabiting the secluded bays and the mouths of the large rivers of the African, Indian, and South American coasts. In their outward appearance they closely resemble the Seals, and, in fact, were at one time considered by naturalists as belonging to that class of animals but the total absence of hind limbs clearly indicates that they are true Cetaceans. They differ from them, however, in having no blow-holes on the top of the head, but nostrils much resembling those of quadrupeds, and in a structure of the bones of the fore-arm which enables them to raise and depress that member, instead of giving it merely the rotatory motion peculiar to the Whales. Neither do they live on animal matter, as the other Cetaceans do, but on the weeds that grow in shallows and on the rocks near low-water mark. The Dugong is still tolerably common in the Indian Ocean. The Manatee, which we shall describe directly, was common in the same regions once, but its flesh being delicate, and being allowed, moreover, to be eaten during Lent by the Church of Rome, it is gradually becoming scarce, and is now only found in plenty along the coast of Africa. There was once a Manatee in the Northern Seas, found by the early navigators inhabiting an island in Behring's Straits; but they literally eat it out, and none have been seen in those seas since.